If you were to define an entrepreneur as someone who simply runs/owns a business or business entities, or takes substantial financial risk to do so, then what separates the entrepreneur from a capitalist? With the concept of entrepreneurship on the rise and individuals making the decision to go their own way, I think it is imperative to cover some distinguishing characteristics between entrepreneurs and capitalists. This is important, because I know there are those who may be turned off by the idea of entrepreneurship, because they may believe them to only care about making money. I also want to explain how the capitalist also has their own set of characteristics that serve a purpose in the economy, and actually compliments the entrepreneur.

…but those sales, though. The capitalist is a numbers man. Their decisions are typically based upon the answers to the following questions: 1. How much has the business made in sales? 2. How much does it cost to run the business? 3. Will I make money with this business? This is because a venture capitalist specifically, is someone who invests their own capital (or on behalf of a firm) into business ventures in exchange for equity in the business. They are like a hybrid investor, representing something like a cross between a private lender and a shareholder. I am not saying that all venture capitalists will invest their capital in just any old product or service so long as it sells, but they are in the business of making money. Capitalizing is their business model. They use their capital like a set of tools to be used in building toolboxes that will not only serve as a safe place to store their tools, but will provide them with more tools than when they started. The capitalist is the individual who helps entrepreneurs get their businesses to new levels without having to take as much short term financial risk as they would with going to a bank for a business loan. The capitalist provides a means for entrepreneurs to fulfill their dreams. Usually this means not only comes in the form of capital, but also wisdom as most venture capitalists started as entrepreneurs as well.The “Spirit”The reason why it is said that entrepreneurship is something that cannot be taught, is only but recently been a concept I was willing to touch thanks to an epiphany I had. As an individual you can learn the basics of what it means to be considered an entrepreneur, for instance building and diversifying an asset portfolio would classify you as an entrepreneur. An entrepreneur could just be a self-employed person, an inventor, or salesman of a product or service. An entrepreneur could be a writer, movie director, paperboy courier, or sensual massage therapist. I could sit here and classify each one of these examples and put them in different asset classes depending on the context of each scenario of the activity taking place, but what is really the most important aspect here? It is that the entrepreneur is hard to universally define. Trying to define the entrepreneur is like trying to find a one size fits all for human passion and purpose. An entrepreneur is created when passion plus purpose converge, and is met with desire. These are concepts that are unique to the individual. This makes the idea of entrepreneurship sound very alluring, and when spoken it sounds mysterious. Entrepreneurship provokes wonder within the spirit of men, and the idea of “the sky is the limit” creates an internalized challenge that can drive them to test the boundaries of what is considered possible in “reality”. So I guess you could say calling an entrepreneur a capitalist is like calling Edgar Allen Poe “a writer”, Van Gogh “a painter”, or Nikola Tesla “an inventor”. No no no, entrepreneurs are visionaries. An entrepreneur is an individual of renaissance, whose story in life feels like a never ending cliff hanger between self-actualization and personal identity.

Join the Live Free Live Rich Club for access to the exclusive members page.